


Goodbye, Goodnight

by mew_tsubaki



Series: Kinkuni: Goodbye, Goodnight, Good Luck [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Friends to Lovers, M/M, it's a miracle that capts Yahaba and Ennoshita put up with any of this lbh, kageyama is a good friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-02
Updated: 2016-11-22
Packaged: 2018-08-28 13:42:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8448196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mew_tsubaki/pseuds/mew_tsubaki
Summary: All is not right in the world when Kindaichi and Kunimi have a fight that, as the days go by, seems irreparable. .::eventual Kinkuni; done for kinkuniweek on tumblr::.





	1. Kindaichi Runs Away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Haikyuu! characters belong to Furudate Haruichi-sensei, not to me. For the day 1 prompt "storm." :O Read, review, and enjoy! *Done for kinkuniweek on tumblr.*

"I don't want your stupid sweatshirt," Kunimi griped, perhaps a bit louder than normal for him, from the sidelines. He tossed said sweatshirt—an ugly, muddied-in-color teal thing that was so thick it could've been a jacket—at Kindaichi.

Kindaichi rolled his eyes and shook his head, pushing it at Kunimi. "You left your jacket in the club room and aren't willing to go get it."

"Because it's snowing!"

"But you can't go out without anything on," Kindaichi pointed out, thinking he'd won the argument. "So just wear this home and return it when you get the chance. I wore another coat on top of this, so you don't have to worry about me."

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say. Kunimi glared at him and whipped the sweatshirt at him. "I'm _not_ worried about you," he snarled.

Well, if Kindaichi had said the wrong thing before, now Kunimi had crossed the line. Kindaichi's anger swelled within his chest, and he met Kunimi's glare with an equally scathing look. But where Kunimi had lashed out verbally, Kindaichi released a low, slow breath and turned his back on his friend. He walked to where Yahaba and Watari and the others had been standing watching the exchange. Frankly, they were lucky the coaches hadn't arrived yet and witnessed everything. "Captain. May I be excused from practice today?"

Yahaba gaped at him and glanced over Kindaichi's shoulder at Kunimi, who looked just as stunned at Kindaichi asking to skip practice. Yahaba brought his attention back to Kindaichi, though. "I don't really think…"

"Then may I practice elsewhere?"

"What do you mean, 'elsewhere'?" Watari asked from beside Yahaba.

Kindaichi took another breath and eased the tension in his shoulders. "…Karasuno, actually."

When Watari stared at him in disbelief, Yahaba elaborated. "It's fine, Watari. He's on good terms with their setter." Yahaba frowned and scratched the back of his head, but he made a decision when Kyoutani walked into the gym. "…all right. Call Kageyama ahead of time, though. Don't just drop in unannounced."

Kindaichi nodded. "Thank you, Captain." He nodded to Watari, too, before returning to the sidelines to grab his towel and water bottle before dashing to the club room.

The other players were fairly quiet after that, but Kunimi gaped at the doors. He stomped over to Yahaba, who had left Watari to organize the others and now spoke to Kyoutani, likely filling him in on what had transpired. "How could you—" Kunimi stopped and calmed down, but not even his senior was spared a glare. "Captain. Why did you let Kindaichi go? And to Karasuno, of all places?"

Yahaba and Kyoutani exchanged a look—not unlike what Oikawa and Iwaizumi used to do, Kunimi observed with irritation—before Yahaba sighed. "After Karasuno kicked Shiratorizawa's ass in the Spring High, we _all_ felt some love for the crows, Kunimi. But Kindaichi saw it as the opportunity to make up with Kageyama, and now they get along quite well. Kindaichi was telling me it's still a work in progress, and that Kageyama wears on his patience, but… Well, maybe they've both grown up some." He paused and blinked. "Kunimi? Didn't you know? I thought Kindaichi had told…oh." Yahaba looked ready to stick his head in a hole. "I'm sorry. I thought you knew."

"Apparently not," Kyoutani quipped, and Yahaba smacked his arm for pointing out the obvious.

Kunimi grimaced and clenched his fists at his sides. He opened his mouth and then closed it. What was there to say? So Kindaichi hadn't told him that he was friends with Kageyama again. Well, Kindaichi didn't tell him _everything_. How could he? It wasn't as if they were glued to each other twenty-four–seven. So Kunimi inhaled, exhaled, and tried not to care.

"Everyone, gather 'round!" Watari called as the coaches entered the gym, and Kunimi took the opportunity to leave Yahaba and Kyoutani without a word.

The captain shot his ace a look, though. "Did you _have_ to point that out, Kyoutani?" he groused as they lined up.

Niceties were lost on Kyoutani, however. He shrugged. "What? Sometimes pointing out the obvious helps solve things faster," he grunted.

Yahaba rolled his eyes. "You say that as if the debate over you versus Watari for vice-captain was as big an issue as this."

"It wasn't, and I'd be a crap vice-captain," Kyoutani informed him. Then he glanced at Kunimi, whose fists remained clenched at his sides. "But if you think their spat is only an 'issue,' then maybe you're a crap captain."

Much as Yahaba wanted to smack Kyoutani for that, as well… He, too, looked at Kunimi. And he had to wonder if Kyoutani was, of all things, right.

* * *

"R-r-ra-radish Head!"

Kageyama walked over to the door to Karasuno's gym and poked Hinata in the back of the head. "His name's 'Kindaichi,' Dumbass Hinata." He looked at Kindaichi, who stepped inside awkwardly. "I talked with Ukai-san and Sensei and our captain, by the way. Honestly, they're fine with you coming over to practice whenever, so long as you give me a head's up."

"I appreciate it," Kindaichi said. He took his bag off and sat down to change into his indoor sneakers. "I'll just switch shoes. I came over in a hurry, so I didn't change out of my practice clothes."

Hinata watched the two of them intently, but Kageyama snorted and playfully flicked the shorter boy's forehead. Hinata griped at him, but he went off to join the new first years in setting up. With Hinata gone, Kageyama squatted down beside Kindaichi. He cupped his cheek in his palm and let an odd beat pass. "You know, when you said we should hang out more, I was surprised. When I said we should practice together some time, I think I was even more surprised, even at myself. I didn't think you'd take me up on the offer, though."

Kindaichi frowned to himself. "…yeah, you're surprising yourself, I'm surprising myself—we make quite the pair, Kageyama."

The setter looked at him confusedly.

"Never mind… Anyway, it's not so bad, playing with your opponent. Or spying on them."

"Spying?!" Kageyama gave him a disapproving look.

Kindaichi snickered. "As if Oikawa-san didn't know you came to eavesdrop on us."

"But I—I hid so well!"

"Right outside a window. Your stare can be felt a mile away, Kageyama," Kindaichi added with a laugh.

Kageyama looked deeply distraught at this new information. "But I hid so well…," he repeated.

Kindaichi actually felt for the guy for a second. But he got up and shoved his stuff to the left of the door and finally closed it. He wanted to be out of the cold and he wanted practice to begin and he wanted to think of anything except why he'd come here in the first place.

As Kageyama led him over to the others, Kindaichi briefly thought about Kunimi and their fight. Then he pushed those thoughts aside and gave Kageyama a thankful little nod. It wasn't that Kindaichi was forsaking one friendship in favor of rekindling another, but he needed some time away from Kunimi, and Kageyama simply provided Kindaichi with an out. Besides, Kindaichi knew he wouldn't permanently stay away from Kunimi and Seijou…

…right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Off to a decent start here… I've been thinking about this fic for a little while, partially because I'd love to see the Kitagawa trio getting along again. But yeah. Time for some dumb boys to be dumb boys. XD Lastly, the title comes from a line from "Sayonara Bell," a great song by indigo la End. So think of that as the "theme song" for this short, chaptered Kinkuni fic. -w-
> 
> Thanks for reading, and please review while you await the next chapter! And check out my other [HQ!] fics if you liked this, too! I also do fanart, so check out my tumblr (link on my profile), as well!
> 
> -mew-tsubaki :]


	2. In a Bird's Nest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Haikyuu! characters belong to Furudate Haruichi-sensei, not to me. For the day 2 prompt "sleepover." :3 Read, review, and enjoy! *Done for kinkuniweek on tumblr.*

Practice with Karasuno was _fun_. Like, ridiculously fun. Mostly Kindaichi felt this way because, while Karasuno's players had no trouble being serious, they also had no problems not taking themselves seriously.

That first day earlier in the week had been a bit awkward. Tanaka had tried staring Kindaichi down with possibly the best yakuza impression in Miyagi, but, though Kindaichi had felt awkward to be on the receiving end of that, Tanaka didn't scare him as much as Kyoutani did, so he put up with Tanaka's rudeness. But Tanaka's rudeness melted into respect when Kindaichi refused to be scared of him, and Tanaka just about _liked_ him when Kindaichi failed to stop three of his ludicrously strong spikes in a row.

Nishinoya was an oddball, too, but in his own way. Often he'd drag Hinata and the other short player on the team, libero-in-training first year Kondo, into his antics. Nine times out of ten, Tanaka failed to be a good vice-captain and laughed at the spectacle. Nine times out of ten, their captain, Ennoshita, scolded all of them, singling Nishinoya and Tanaka out as the instigators.

Narita and Kinoshita, the remaining third years, were welcoming to Kindaichi, and Narita was a good ally when blocking during a practice set. Yamaguchi was easy to get along with, as were the other two first years, Akimoto and Ozaki, and those three reminded Kindaichi in equal parts of Watari and Iwaizumi.

On the other hand, Hinata was hot and cold, and Kindaichi got the sense that Tsukishima flat-out disliked him. Kinoshita said Hinata was the same way with Kageyama and so not to worry about it. "Or, it could be that he's jealous of the extra time you and Kageyama are spending together," the blond added. "Sometimes it's hard to tell, but they're pretty close."

"And with Tsukishima—I'd bet it's simply because you two play the same position," Narita informed him. Kinoshita nodded from Narita's other side as the middle blocker continued, "Not to mention, ever since the Shiratorizawa match, Tsukishima's sense of school pride is out of everyone's league. He'll never admit it, but he's an extremely loyal guy."

"You mean he loves us," Kinoshita corrected with a laugh.

Narita tried to hide it, but he chuckled, too. "Yeah, he does."

Chatting like that was so pleasant and refreshing, but Kindaichi felt a bit homesick for Seijou after his third day coming to Karasuno for practice. It wasn't that Seijou wasn't a friendly environment, but he was used to the "Here's what we're doing, let's get things done" atmosphere of his home team. In addition, Kindaichi got the sense that Karasuno had to withhold at least some of their attacks, no doubt because they didn't want to debut them in front of an opponent on anything less than an official court. And that detracted from the experience somewhat. Still, he was glad he had someplace to go.

Kindaichi took a break from blocking against Kageyama and Hinata's superhuman quick to catch his breath and drink some water. He grabbed his water bottle and squirted into his mouth, but that quick had tired him so badly that he missed and ended up splashing himself all down his front. "Ah, damn," he muttered under his breath, fishing around in his bag for his towel.

An orange piece of cloth appeared in front of him, and he took it without question. Once he dried his face and chest, he looked at his savior and saw Karasuno's manager, Yachi.

"Thanks," he bumbled, dropping his eyes to the ground for a second. He couldn't help it. Yachi _was_ cute, especially when she smiled so warmly like that.

"No problem." Yachi beamed at him. "The snow's done and it's spring now, but it's still so cold outside. Best not to stay wet like that."

"Ah, I didn't take someone's towel, though?"

She shook her head. "It's a spare, so don't worry about it. I'll wash it later, anyway." She licked her lips then and chewed her bottom lip. "Um, Kindaichi-kun…"

"Hmm?"

"Is everything all right?" She frowned. "It's none of my business, I know. I just… You seem a little lost to me."

Kindaichi tensed. "I'm not."

Yachi waved her hands dismissively, apologetically. "Then I-I'm sorry! So sorry!" She bowed to emphasize her point.

Kindaichi sighed. "You don't have to do that, Yachi-san…" Only when she looked at him did he push. "Why do you think I look lost, though?"

"Well…" She looked at the players. Her eyes followed Hinata, who spiked Kageyama's toss in the blink of an eye. Granted, it didn't go through Tsukishima and Ozaki's block, and the duo shot Tsukishima dirty looks. Tsukishima, for his part, pushed his glasses up his nose with his middle finger, but Ennoshita and Tanaka caught that and rebuked all three of them while Ozaki sighed and returned to his position. Yachi half-laughed at the scene. "When Hinata-kun and Kageyama-kun are getting along, Karasuno moves like a well-oiled machine. No flaws, no bumps in the road." She looked at Kindaichi. "But when they're fighting? If they're actually, physically fighting, it's pretty scary. But when they're not talking?" She shook her head. "Both of them…look lost without the other around. It's kind of heartbreaking to watch." She smiled sympathetically. "And you right now remind me of them when they're like that. Forgive me for being forward, but…did you have a fight with a partner?"

Kindaichi frowned. It wasn't just that Yachi had hit the nail on the head. But…Kunimi, his partner? Sure, Kunimi was his closest friend. His oldest friend. They'd been in the same schools and volleyball clubs since fifth grade. But Kindaichi had always been a middle blocker and Kunimi a wing spiker. So he wasn't sure they interacted enough on the court to be considered partners, not like Kageyama and Hinata, at least. Definitely not like Yahaba and Kyoutani, he thought after another second.

Yachi's face fell when Kindaichi didn't comment. "Sorry," she added again, and she left when Ukai motioned to her, before Kindaichi could correct her that she had no need to apologize for being perceptive.

Kindaichi put his water bottle back in his bag and spread the towel out across the top so it could dry out. But he heard his phone buzz with a text, so he picked it up. There were three texts, all from his mother:

_-Yuu-chan, we're having tonkatsu for dinner tonight._

_-Yuu-chan, I bumped into Akira-chan's mother! We caught up and I invited them over for dinner. Come home early so you can shower before then._

_-Yuutarou. Answer my texts!_

Kindaichi inwardly groaned. He'd done a good job the past several days of avoiding Kunimi, but this mention of Kunimi's family had his temper flaring again. He wasn't ready to see Kunimi yet knowing the decent chances of Kunimi acting high and mighty (or at least like an ass). Gripping his phone tighter than necessary, Kindaichi waited until Kageyama came over to rest.

"Is something wrong?" Kageyama asked him. "You've been standing over here for a while." Kageyama grinned—it was still a creepy sight, but less creepy than before, so at least he was improving some. "Did Hinata's spike hit your hands too hard?"

"No, I'm fine." Kindaichi flicked his tongue against his teeth, trying to figure out how to word his request. "Hey. Can I crash at your place? My parents are going to be home late tonight," he lied.

Kageyama gave it some thought. "I think that's fine. But Hinata had already invited himself over for the weekend. I'll tell him that he can come over next time."

"Ah, you don't have to do that!"

Kageyama gave him a skeptical look. "But I do…? My house is small, so my parents are fine with one friend over at a time."

Kindaichi's shoulders sagged as he watched Kageyama go tell Hinata about the change of plans. No doubt Kindaichi had just landed himself on Hinata's bad side. Then Kindaichi's phone buzzed again. His mother was now calling him, so he had to answer. "Ah, sorry, Mom. I meant to tell you earlier—a friend invited me to stay over, and I already said yes." Was he going to get caught in his lie? He hoped not.

"Really, Yuu-chan!" his mother huffed. "Check with me or your father before you confirm such things. But all right. I expect you home by no later than lunch tomorrow. Have fun!" she added before he hurried her off the line.

He'd locked his phone and dropped it into his bag when it buzzed one last time. Oh, good grief, if it was his mother again—

But he recognized the avatar that went with that number.

He ignored said avatar (the _Akira_ movie poster, supposedly Kunimi's namesake because his parents had met when friends invited them to watch it) and zipped his bag shut. He'd deal with the repercussions some other time.

* * *

"Welcome, welcome! So good to see you! Ah, Akira-chan, every time we see you, you're even taller!"

Kunimi did his best not to grunt—no, his parents would never let him hear the end of it if he misbehaved in front of Kindaichi's parents—as Kindaichi's mother cooed over him, but he had the strong urge to do so anyway. It wasn't as if he enjoyed being tall; tall and slim wasn't appealing, in his opinion. But he was used to hearing adults say that shit all the time, so at the very least he was used to it. Besides, he gave Kindaichi's parents more leeway than other adults since they'd known him since he was little, and he kind of liked them. Kindaichi's mother, for instance, was what Kunimi pictured a smiling, jovial Iwaizumi would be like. Probably why Kindaichi admired Iwaizumi so much, Kunimi figured.

"It smells wonderful in here, Yoko-san," Kunimi's dad told Kindaichi's mother as the Kunimi family followed her into the dining room. "It's so lucky that you bumped into Megumi earlier."

"Ah, thank you," Kindaichi's mother exclaimed. She shook her head. "I just wish Yuutarou had come home. We've not seen Akira in a while; you've not seen Yuutarou in a while. I thought it'd be the six of us tonight."

That caught Kunimi's attention. His ears perked up as his mother asked where Kindaichi was.

"Oh, he was invited to a friend's place and had already accepted. I didn't feel I could say no."

Kunimi's mother turned to her son. "Do you know which friend?"

"Ah. It hadn't occurred to me to ask," Kindaichi's mother realized.

Kunimi suddenly felt four pairs of eyes on him. "…dunno," he remarked, which was true. He _didn't_ know. But that didn't mean he didn't have an idea. "Excuse me. I need to use the bathroom," he said, and he went down the hall, hearing their parents bemoan their sons hitting "that age where they just don't tell you anything anymore." Once he locked the door behind him, he leaned against it and pulled his phone out. He'd tried texting Kindaichi earlier when his mother had come home and announced they'd be eating over at the Kindaichi family's home, but Kindaichi must've ignored the message. So now Kunimi tried again:

_-oi. at your place for din. you?_

No response. Kunimi was reminded of his annoyance at his friend earlier in the week. Wasn't it bad enough that Kindaichi had been running away to Karasuno's practice every day this week? It wasn't as if they were ever in the same homeroom, either. Aside from going to school and coming home together, club was all they had. They weren't the best of friends, Kunimi supposed, but he'd known Kindaichi the longest out of anyone, and vice versa. It was often easy being friends with someone he was that familiar with, and it angered Kunimi that suddenly Kindaichi wasn't letting their friendship be that easy.

_-answer my texts, kin._

Still nothing.

_-you're at king's, aren't you? fine. enjoy your new team. we don't need you._

Kunimi debated sending that last text. Saying "we" was probably a bit heavy-handed, but changing "we" to "I" made him seem too whiny. Either way, Kunimi couldn't decide. Eventually, he deleted that last sentence before sending the text. Then he tried to recall some of the more creative, angry emojis Hanamaki and Matsukawa had taught him in the past year, and he sent a few choice ones to Kindaichi, as well. Satisfied he'd gotten his point across, Kunimi flushed the toilet and turned on the faucet so that the adults wouldn't come asking after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Karasuno a lot, and I like this idea of Kindaichi finding some acceptance there, because they do feel that welcoming to me. Tsukki, tho… XD And yeah, some random OCs, but who knows? Maybe I'll think about them some more in the future, idk. And now the plot thickens…Kinkuni lying to each other? Why can't these babies just get along?
> 
> Anywho, thx for reading and please review! Look forward to the next chappie, too!
> 
> -mew! :3


	3. Kunimi Could Care Less

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Haikyuu! characters belong to Furudate Haruichi-sensei, not to me. For the day 3 prompt "video games." :] Read, review, and enjoy! *Done for kinkuniweek on tumblr.*

"Ahh, you want to _jog_ home?!" Kindaichi whined as he waited for Kageyama below the clubroom's entrance.

"Of course," Kageyama said. He stretched his arms as he hustled down the stairs. At the foot of them, he stretched his legs, too. "I jog home most of the time," he stated, gesturing to the different sweatshirt he was wearing and the fresh shirt he'd put on. "That's why I keep a second set of clothes in my gym bag. What, you don't jog?"

Kindaichi didn't know what to say to that. Of course he jogged. He did so a lot. It was the first thing he'd done, even, after Seijou had lost to Karasuno last fall. But he didn't want to admit it out loud. He was beginning to wonder just how alike he and Kageyama were… After all, it was one thing being friends with the guy. But being _like_ him? Kindaichi fought a shiver.

Kageyama started without him, but he kept his pace easy, so Kindaichi caught up in two strides. "Mom's still out shopping and Dad won't be home until later, so you can have the bath first when we get back."

"Ah. Thanks…" They were out of the main courtyard when Kindaichi spoke up again. "So…doesn't any of this feel weird to you?"

The setter nodded. "It does. But I like trying harder." His face darkened, and Kindaichi almost missed Kageyama's added "I never want to be called 'king' again."

Kindaichi ducked his head then, a wave of guilt washing over him. It ebbed, and he waited for Kageyama to pick up the conversation.

"And…something Sugawara-san—ah, our former setter—said to me stuck. That life's too short to hold grudges." Kageyama looked a bit guilty himself at that. "They were kind words coming from the senpai from whom I'd stolen his place on the team."

"But…that happens, with setters. Liberoes, too," Kindaichi remarked.

"Doesn't make me any happier to know that."

Kindaichi clapped him on the back. "You know what, Kageyama? You're an all right guy," he offered with a smile.

Kageyama smiled, too. "I don't think you're horrible anymore either, Kindaichi," he deadpanned.

This guy…! "Forget I said anything…"

"Hah? What?! I was being nice!"

"That's not how to be nice!"

"Then go home!"

They were huffing and glaring at each other by the time they neared Kageyama's neighborhood. Still, as annoyed as they were with each other and despite how conversation had died between them, Kindaichi made no move to hail the bus and go home, and Kageyama showed no signs of turning him away. Actually, when they got to Kageyama's house, their tempers had cooled, and both boys kicked off their shoes before trudging inside.

"My room's down the hall, on the left at the end," Kageyama pointed out as they passed where the kitchen led into the split living room and dining space. Kageyama gave Kindaichi a quick once-over. "Do you have a spare change of clothes? Otherwise I could probably loan you a t-shirt of my dad's."

Kindaichi checked his bag. "No, I'm good. Bathroom?"

Kageyama pointed to the door almost directly across from his room. "There. Ah, and you have to jiggle the shower hand to the left to get it started." He grabbed a fresh towel from the hall closet and passed it to Kindaichi. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Just holler if you need me. If my door's closed when you get out, just knock before entering."

Kindaichi nodded and stood in the hall while Kageyama disappeared into his room. With nowhere else to go, Kindaichi went into the bathroom and put his things down in front of the door. On a whim, he checked the time on his phone's clock. But the texts caught his eye first. Sighing, he opened them. One from his mother:

_-Remember what I said! Home by lunch tomorrow!_

There were three others, all from Kunimi, the last one followed by a string of odd-looking emojis which Kindaichi couldn't decipher:

_-oi. at your place for din. you?_

_-answer my texts, kin._

_-you're at king's, aren't you? fine. enjoy your new team._

Kindaichi cursed at his phone and shook his head. Those had been sent almost an hour ago, but even if he replied now, he had no idea what to say. Oikawa had complained over the years about his various girlfriends being high-maintenance, but clearly Oikawa had never dated someone like Kunimi.

That thought struck Kindaichi as odd. It wasn't as if he, himself, was thinking that he and Kunimi were… _that_ close…but Kindaichi also knew that one had to be extremely close to someone in order to have this bad a fight with someone. He had to give Oikawa credit, though—Kindaichi had his hands full just being friends with Kunimi. He had no time for adding girls to the equation.

He showered briefly and thoroughly before soaking in the tub. Once there, he let the steam fog his head a bit. If he were being honest, then Kindaichi would admit that he'd give anything for things to be back to normal between him and Kunimi again. He disliked it when they fought, partly because he missed Kunimi's company and partly because it always took so much energy to make things right between them.

That was why he couldn't date, he figured. He had his hands full with school and volleyball and Kunimi. A voice that sounded an awful lot like Kunimi's popped into Kindaichi's head then, claiming, "Don't blame me for your lack of a love life." But with the disembodied voice appeared Kunimi's grumpy face, and then his arms crossed impatiently in front of his chest, and then his long, slender legs not quite hidden by the girl's uniform skirt—

Kindaichi spluttered in the water and surfaced. No doubt that fantasizing about Kunimi like _that_ meant it was time to get out of the bath.

He dried himself and dressed, splashing cold water on his face until his facial muscles were almost numb. Then he grabbed his things and went to Kageyama's door, which was closed. He paused before knocking, though.

He could hear Kageyama talking quietly on the phone, and Kindaichi was stunned. It wasn't surprising that Kageyama could be so quiet, but…the _gentleness_ with which he spoke almost bowled Kindaichi over. Kageyama laughed softly and mumbled a "dumbass" into the receiver, so Kindaichi knocked, figuring Kageyama's conversation was dying down.

"Come in," Kageyama called, and he was just putting his phone down on his desk when Kindaichi dropped his bag by the dresser. Kageyama turned and stared at him, squinting. "Who are you?"

Kindaichi groaned. "I don't look _that_ different with my hair down, Kageyama!"

Kageyama gaped at him, as if he really _was_ surprised to hear Kindaichi's voice emerge from the other teen. "Oh. Right. Sorry."

"Whatever…" Kindaichi peeked at Kageyama, who was grabbing a change of clothes. "Did I interrupt? You didn't have to let me in."

"It was just Hinata," Kageyama stated.

Kindaichi felt the need to splash more cold water on his face. Did Kageyama even know how he spoke to the redhead?! Though, knowing Kageyama, probably not… "I—I see…"

Kageyama looked at him curiously but didn't comment. "I'm just showering, so I'll be out in a few minutes. Mom will be home soon, so we might start dinner without Dad, if you don't want to wait."

"Ah, n-no, that's fine…"

True to his word, Kageyama was quick. Kindaichi had time enough to open his bag to look at his homework and procrastinate doing it before the setter returned. "Oh, where did you want to sleep?" he asked his guest.

What a dubious question… "I figured on the floor, unless you want to give up your bed, by any chance?" Kindaichi replied with one raised eyebrow.

"No way in hell." Kageyama disappeared into the hallway to grab a thin futon and other assorted items, but Kindaichi couldn't resist popping his head out of the room.

Should he or should he not ask? Probably the better question was: Did Kindaichi really want to know? "Then why did you ask? No, wait, I mean—where does Hinata sleep when he stays over?"

Kageyama walked back into his room and dropped the items unceremoniously on the floor by Kindaichi's feet. He only gestured to his bed before he started laying everything out.

Kindaichi almost had a heart attack. "You sleep together."

"He doesn't take up much space and he gets cold easily because he tosses and turns in his sleep and always ends up with the blanket on the floor." Kageyama shrugged. "I don't mind."

All right. Either Kageyama was pulling his leg, or this kid didn't understand exactly what it meant for Hinata wanting to monopolize him. And if it were the latter, then Kindaichi almost felt sorry for Hinata. Regardless, Kindaichi dropped the topic. "I don't get you, Kageyama…"

"Huh?"

Kindaichi rolled his eyes, trying to change the subject. "Please tell me you have something we can do until supper. Like, video games or something."

"Not really. Although, I did get a system for my birthday. Or was it for Christmas? Christmas. No, it was a birthday present." Kageyama looked thoroughly confused as he pointed to an unopened box underneath his desk, and Kindaichi followed his line of sight.

"A Play—?! Brand-new?! Those were sold out, though!"

"I don't really play… Noya-san and Tanaka-san and Kozume-san are the people I think of as gamers, and Hinata is…better at games than I am," he grumbled, "so I haven't set it up."

Kindaichi sighed. Finally, something he could handle. "Then let me set it up. Who knows? Maybe the next time Hinata comes over, you can impress him and win for once."

Judging by the excited puppy look on his face, Kageyama seemed plenty fine with that.

* * *

It was 2:04 in the morning, and Kunimi's bloodshot eyes stared at his phone's screen. He'd given up playing any puzzle games in order to help him sleep an hour ago. Now he tortured himself by going through his text history.

Ignoring the ones he'd angrily sent Kindaichi last night, his recent text history with his friend was fairly bland. Things about Kunimi going to practice late, funny stories from Kindaichi's classes, Kindaichi reminding him to eat all of his lunch, Kunimi calling him "Mom" on purpose to annoy him… Not once had Kindaichi mentioned that he'd become friends with Kageyama.

Kunimi sighed irately and turned onto his left side, still staring at his phone. He hadn't texted with Kindaichi in days, or spoken to him since their fight. A part of him wondered if this fight would last well into the coming week…another part of him was fine with that, so long as it ended with Kindaichi apologizing. Kunimi hadn't done anything wrong, after all. And he finally replied to Yahaba's text from five hours ago, telling his captain as much. Yahaba's response?

_-i dont care who started it SOMEONE btr apologize & kUNIMI GO THE _ _**FUCK** _ _2 SLEEP_

Wow. Rude. Kunimi chucked his phone across the room, aiming for his duffle bag. It landed with a soft _**pomf**_ , quieter than he expected, and he saw why, though it took him a moment as his eyes had to adjust to the sudden darkness.

Ah. It _hadn't_ landed in or on his bag. It had landed on Kindaichi's sweatshirt, the same ugly teal one Kindaichi had pushed on him during the fight. Kunimi had forgotten he'd brought it home and left it rolled in a ball on the floor.

He sat up in his bed and continued to stare at the sweatshirt. Then a chill crawled over his skin despite his warm pajamas, so Kunimi stood and scurried over to the sweatshirt, picking it up and hurrying back to bed, diving under the covers for warmth. There, under the covers, heat and Kindaichi's scent overwhelmed him, and Kunimi closed his eyes. He thought of all the overnight trips where he'd get the futon beside Kindaichi's and end up pressed at Kindaichi's back for warmth, and he mused about how that hadn't really changed, especially since Kindaichi still let Kunimi doze on his shoulder or arm during practice these days.

He pressed his nose into the sweatshirt, and his anger dulled. With his eyes closed, he could almost pretend Kindaichi was right there with him, that strong, warm back a comforting body pillow to which Kunimi could cling in order to have sound sleep.

But a sweatshirt was not Kindaichi, because there were no arms in those sleeves to reach backward and make sure Kunimi was still there, to pull the covers up over Kunimi's shoulders when they fell away, to turn around and trap Kunimi in place and play a game of Sleeping Beauty because maybe, just maybe, Kunimi could only be woken by true love's kiss…

Kunimi popped his head out above the covers, thankful for the cool air that hit his heated cheeks. His mind…hadn't really gone _there_ , had it? This was Kindaichi he was thinking about, for crying out loud. Kindaichi was handsome, he supposed, if that was your type… But… _Kindaichi_? That way? Sure, Kindaichi took care of him, but he didn't, well, _take care of Kunimi_.

Kunimi ran a hand over his face and groaned. Being angry at Kindaichi, he could handle. But this?

He stared at his hand.

His other hand griped Kindaichi's sweatshirt under the covers.

Well. Only one way to find out for sure, right? Whether he could care less about their ongoing spat?

So Kunimi pulled the fabric up to his nose, let his other hand wander, and set about finding the answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That hit a T-rating pretty quickly. BP Anywho, it should be pretty obvious that these two are idiots just like Kageyama in this regard, though I will say I had a fun time writing Kageyama talk about Hinata in this chappie. Kageyama understands things, tho, Kindaichi, no worries. And Yahaba's text. XD Poor baby, having to deal with these kouhai…
> 
> Thanks for reading, and please review!
> 
> -mew! -w-


	4. Tattle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Haikyuu! characters belong to Furudate Haruichi-sensei, not to me. For the day 4 prompt "third years." ;D Read, review, and enjoy! *Done for kinkuniweek on tumblr.*

Morning came far too bright and early for Kunimi's liking. Yes. Too bright, too early…

Too sticky.

Kunimi shoved Kindaichi's sweatshirt into a deep, dark corner in his closet and slammed the closet door shut as best he could without risking waking his parents. Then he made a beeline for the bathroom and cleaned himself up. Bad enough he'd masturbated like that last night. Worse that he'd felt so relieved as to fall peacefully asleep right after without taking care of the mess he'd made of himself.

But even though his "experiment" had been a success, of sorts, Kunimi wasn't sure how he felt about the answer. All right. So he found Kindaichi sexually appealing. Big deal. Wasn't it normal to jack off to a guy or two if you were a healthy teenage boy?

…yet, blasé as he tried to be about the situation, he felt a sense of despair. He wasn't even considering that Kindaichi might not accept him because a) he had no plans to tell Kindaichi about this and b) what was there even to tell? No, his despair was mostly due to the fact that, unless they repaired their friendship sooner rather than later, they wouldn't even have the intimacy which Kunimi already enjoyed. And that was not something he could do without. Bad enough that Kunimi hadn't had a decent nap at practice over the past several days with Kindaichi at Karasuno. But to think that Kunimi could never be that close to Kindaichi ever again?

Every now and then, Hanamaki had teased Kunimi for lacking a heart. But clearly Kunimi had one, otherwise some other organ ached within his chest cavity right now.

Still, Kunimi calmed himself. Nothing good would come from acting like the love-struck girls on the dramas his mother watched. He had the whole weekend to reign in his feelings and to practice his poker face for school on Monday.

Kunimi may be lazy, but there was nothing he couldn't handle. And this…would just have to be handled.

* * *

"RED ALERT! RED ALERT! RED ALERT!"

…or perhaps Kunimi had been too optimistic.

Practice had barely begun Monday afternoon when Oikawa, of all people, burst into the gym, throwing the doors open dramatically and revealing a tired-looking Hanamaki and Matsukawa behind him. He kept chirping "RED ALERT!" until he spied Kunimi and rushed over, grabbing the unwilling second year and pulling Kunimi's head to his bosom. He sighed dramatically, even, though neither Irihata nor Mizoguchi thought to scold Oikawa for disrupting things.

"Oikawa-san, please let go of me," Kunimi grumbled into the older boy's pea coat.

"But— _red alert_!" Oikawa babbled, as if that explained everything.

"Oikawa-san," Yahaba began, coming over and helping Hanamaki to remove Oikawa from Kunimi, "when I called you for advice, I was asking for _advice_ , not a visit."

Hanamaki gave Yahaba a dry look. "You're joking, right? You tell this idiot," he said, pointing to Oikawa, "that Kindaichi and Kunimi, who're practically his children, haven't spoken in almost a week, and you don't expect these shenanigans?"

Kunimi shot his captain a look. "You told on us?"

Yahaba returned the look. "So sue me. I've never seen you two argue this bad, and Oikawa-san and Iwaizumi-san know you two the best. And the faster you two make up, the sooner our team can get back on track." He sighed exasperatedly and gestured to Kyoutani. "I've my hands full enough as it is, y'know."

Hanamaki exchanged a mischievous grin with Matsukawa. "After an hour in the car with 'RED ALERT,' I think I have it in me to help train a wild dog, eh, Matsukawa?"

Matsukawa wordlessly nodded, and he and Hanamaki took turns ruffling Yahaba's hair as they walked over to bother Kyoutani.

Unfortunately, that left Kunimi with Oikawa once more. At least Oikawa was keeping his hands to himself now. "What, no Iwaizumi-san?" Kunimi prompted.

Oikawa stuck out his lower lip. "No. We may not be going to the same school, but it doesn't mean we can't share an apartment. Iwa-chan stayed back in the city, though, still looking at places." He furrowed his brow. "But I had to come, Kunimi-chan, when Shigeru-kun told me about you and Kindaichi…"

Kunimi twisted his lips around and walked to the storage closet to grab the scoreboard. Oikawa dogged his heels. "We fight just like everyone else. Are you going to come running the next time it happens?"

"Kunimi."

He looked over his shoulder.

Oikawa tucked his hands in his pockets and tilted his head to one side as he leaned against the doorjamb. "I'd expect you two to be like cats and dogs with _Tobio-chan_ , not with each other. What's going on?"

"Nothing." Kunimi paused. "Since we're ratting each other out… Did Yahaba-san tell you that Kindaichi's friends with Kageyama now?"

Oikawa pulled a face. "He mentioned it. But Kindaichi's a good judge of character. If he thinks Tobio-chan's…worth the effort, then I trust Kindaichi. Why, are you jealous?"

The spiker tensed. That hadn't occurred to him. Worse still, a tiny part of him felt that Oikawa was right. Kunimi didn't react, though, and turned his back to his former captain as he wheeled the scoreboard out.

Oikawa followed him slowly. "Kunimi…what do you think of Kindaichi?"

"He's a good place to nap," Kunimi answered automatically.

Oikawa chuckled as if he'd been expecting something like that. "No… I mean, he's your friend, right? I've gotten to watch you two over the years. He takes good care of you."

"I don't need him to take care of me," he hissed.

The older boy held his hands up to show that he'd back off that line of discussion. "Okay, okay…" He rubbed the back of his neck. "I…" He trailed off.

Kunimi sighed and passed the scoreboard off to one of the first years. Then he indulged Oikawa and walked with him to the side of the court.

"I kind of liked our family, y'know? Those of us from Kitagawa. Except Tobio-chan," he added explicitly, as if it did him any good trying to prove how much he "didn't" dote on his old protégé. "But the four of us? Me, Iwa-chan, you, Kindaichi. We made sense. Iwa-chan and I go together like sugar and spice," he said with a laugh, "but you and Kindaichi are like salt and pepper. You come together."

"We don't have to stay together. I prefer salt."

Oikawa sighed again, this time less dramatically. "No, you're right. I said the wrong thing. It's not about always being together. It's about wanting to be together. Friends or not," he added seemingly as an afterthought, but something in his piercing gaze scared Kunimi, as if Oikawa knew exactly what Kunimi had done with Kindaichi's sweatshirt. Then his gaze softened, and Kunimi wasn't certain he felt at ease, even if Oikawa's softened gaze conveyed to him that, hey, Oikawa had been in his shoes before.

Kunimi glanced at Irihata, hoping for an excuse to end this discussion, but the coach was busy laughing at the spike-off Hanamaki was having with Kyoutani. "Are we done here?" he mumbled irritably.

The former captain sighed one more time. "All I'm saying is that honesty with yourself is the best policy, Kunimi-chan~" Oikawa unbuttoned his coat and loosened his shirt collar, looking out at the other players. "Ah, maybe I'll join in, since Mattsun and Makki were kind enough to pick me up from the train station earlier…"

Something glinted around Oikawa's neck, and Kunimi thought he glanced a ring hanging on a chain. But when he locked eyes with Oikawa, the latter merely winked at him and held a finger up to his lips before hurrying off to join the commotion. Oikawa was the type to have secrets, so he was good at keeping them, and Kunimi trusted him with his own…that is, if Kunimi had anything to keep secret.

* * *

Ennoshita took a large breath on the side of the court. "Ah, it's been really great having you around, Kindaichi," he told the blocker when practice ended.

Kindaichi tried to hide it, but he beamed with pride. "No, thank you, Ennoshita-san, for letting me join you guys. Practice here is so different from Seijou."

"We're lazy compared to them, aren't we?" the captain quipped knowingly.

"No…not really…"

"Well, don't look down on us too much," Yamaguchi piped up, passing Ennoshita a towel. "We practiced with Nekoma and Fukurodani, and Shinzen and Ubugawa. And held our own."

"Pretty pathetically," Ennoshita reminded him, and Yamaguchi laughed and nodded at that.

"But you guys played Fukurodani at Nationals last year."

"And lost," Ennoshita pointed out.

"Yeah, but Bokuto's a nationally-ranked athlete. His spikes—"

"Yeah, when he doesn't hold back, you feel as though your arms are going to break off, worse than Ushijima's spikes," the captain agreed. "Daichi-san and Nishinoya and I dealt with the majority of them."

"At least Hinata didn't take any of those to the face," Yamaguchi remarked.

They collectively shuddered.

Tanaka motioned to Ennoshita then, and the captain left to join his vice-captain to go over Yachi's observational notes from the day's practice. Tsukishima glared Kindaichi's way, so Yamaguchi left, too, but Kindaichi was all right with that. He needed to head home soon.

Takeda-sensei and Ukai approached him on his way to where he'd left his stuff by the door. "Good job again, Kindaichi," the coach praised him, but he exchanged a look with the teacher before leaving the two alone.

Kindaichi, who'd been stooping to grab his bag, straightened up. "Um…am I in trouble?"

Takeda-sensei smiled warmly. "Oh, no, no, heavens no, Kindaichi-kun. With you around, Hinata-kun and Tsukishima-kun are more fired up than ever."

Well, at least when it came to Hinata, Kindaichi could guess why that would be.

"But, um…"

"Yeah?"

"I called Irihata-sensei this morning."

"Oh." How could that be a sign of anything _but_ trouble?

"We talked…and he told me about what happened with Kunimi-kun. Your captain told him," he added when Kindaichi went to protest that the coaches didn't know everything since they hadn't witnessed it. "And I asked Kageyama-kun, as well."

"I didn't tell _him_ anything," Kindaichi said dejectedly.

"Kageyama-kun picks up on things in his own way," the tiny teacher commented. "And he knows how often you speak of Kunimi-kun to know that you not speaking of him is a change." Takeda-sensei clasped his hands behind his back, looking like a wise old grandpa…actually, kind of like Coach Irihata. "Kindaichi-kun, running away from a friend during a fight only does some good. It can help you to cool your head. But staying away for too long can do unforeseeable damage. You've known him for years, right? You care for him?"

Kindaichi opened and closed his mouth. If "care" covered the odd dreams he'd been having since sleeping over at Kageyama's house several nights ago, then yes, he cared for Kunimi. But he didn't want to embrace his weird fantasies. He just wanted to have Kunimi by his side again. So he nodded.

"Then go to Seijou's practice tomorrow."

"Am I banned from Karasuno for now?"

Takeda-sensei chuckled and shook his head. "No. But, once you've made up, the next time you come around, bring him with you."

Kindaichi got the feeling the teacher meant it more as evidence that everything was fine again, but he appreciated the concern. "I got it."

"Good. Oh, and, Kindaichi-kun?"

"Yeah?"

Takeda-sensei's smile was as charming as Yachi's, really. "Talk to your captain about arranging a training camp this year. Karasuno, Nekoma, Seijou, and others—wouldn't that be something?"

Kindaichi half-smiled, too, and he bowed to the teacher, taking the chance to leave. Yes, a training camp like that sounded nice…but it was a pipe dream for now if Kindaichi let things fester any more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa, boy. Firstly, Kunimi. Poor kid. He doesn't know what to do with himself. XD And Oikawa…so knows more than he lets on. Oh, and basically, Oikawa had Mattsun pick him up from the train station and Makki was along for shits and giggles, but after an hour of "RED ALERT," I'm pretty sure they were one block away from pushing Oikawa out of the car before they arrived at Aoba Johsai. XDDD And was that a certain kind of ring around Oikawa's neck…? *i'll never tell. maybe* And more of Kindaichi getting along with Karasuno~! =w= I just really like that. So yeah.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and please review! Something big will happen in the next chappie!
> 
> -mew! ;]


	5. The Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Haikyuu! characters belong to Furudate Haruichi-sensei, not to me. For the day 5 prompt "confession." :o Read, review, and enjoy! *Done for kinkuniweek on tumblr.*

When Kunimi went to practice after class on Tuesday, the last face he expected to see was Kindaichi's. But there he was, in the clubroom, and the awkward stare they shared made the few first years in the clubroom run out. So it was just the two of them.

Kunimi's mind flashed to Kindaichi's sweatshirt still guiltily bundled up in his closet at home, but he fought those thoughts down and strolled over to his locker like usual. He started disrobing while Kindaichi remained fidgeting beside him. "Hurry up," the spiker mumbled. "Yahaba-san doesn't like anyone to keep him waiting."

Ah. The first words either of them had spoken to each other in a week. Kindaichi dumbly nodded. "Uh, y-yeah."

A part of Kunimi was relieved. Maybe simply talking again would break the ice, get things back to normal.

…but that implied that Kindaichi spoke _with_ him, and that didn't happen for their remaining lone minutes in the clubroom.

With a silent huff, Kunimi closed his locker and turned his back to Kindaichi. He almost stormed out on his own…but no, even if he didn't apologize, he had to try to make things easier, so he waited for Kindaichi at the door.

Kindaichi noticed this and changed quickly. Yet where before Kindaichi would've walked side by side with Kunimi, he trailed behind him now. So. Things were _not_ going to be that easy.

Practice was no different. Though Watari looked elated to see them in the same vicinity as the other again, his joy quickly faded when it became apparent to everyone that the middle blocker and wing spiker were not up to snuff. Yahaba tried the tough love route by forcing them to do receives until he said so, but they dealt with it without a complaint.

By the time practice ended, Kunimi was ready to bolt out of there and head home on his own again. However, he saw Kindaichi dragging his feet, so Kunimi sighed and summoned every last shred of his patience, willing it to last through walking back to the clubroom, through changing back into their uniforms, through the walk to the bus stop, and through the bus ride home. In actuality, it lasted for one block after they got off the bus.

"I swear to—just _say something_ already!" Kunimi snapped at him, half turned in his direction.

Kindaichi shrank back, but he quickly recovered and gave Kunimi a stern look. "Don't yell at me. What do you expect me to say, anyway?"

Kunimi rolled his eyes. "I don't know. I'm not a fucking _mind reader_." He wheeled on Kindaichi. "And Karasuno, really? _Kageyama_?"

The taller boy scoffed. "And this reaction is why I didn't tell you about mending things with him. You're too much like Oikawa-san around him. You both really hate him."

Kunimi scrunched up his nose. The accusation hurt. He didn't get along with Kageyama, no, but he wasn't sure he _hated_ the guy. "Hate" was a pretty strong word, and he knew when to use it. For instance, he hated this intangible distance between him and Kindaichi, and he wished so badly to cross it.

Kindaichi grimaced when Kunimi didn't correct him. "You know, Kunimi, I've been getting along with him for weeks. And his team has welcomed me this past week like an old friend and—" He shook his head. "With how you've been treating me, it kind of makes me want to transfer there," he added bitterly. His voice was quiet when he said that, but he made certain he was loud enough to be heard by the other male.

"With how _I've_ been treating _you_?"

"Kunimi, you're never grateful for anything I do or say for you. You never return the gestures. You never—you even said you're not worried about me, and that made me wonder if you ever worry about anyone but yourself." He frowned sadly. "I didn't want to think about you that way because I c—" He tripped over his words, and he averted his eyes as his cheeks flushed in the dark. Unfortunately for him, the streetlight behind Kunimi flickered on, and Kindaichi's red face looked even redder in the yellow-orange light. But he cleared his throat and forced the rest out. "Because I care about you."

Ah. Hell. Kunimi hadn't been expecting to hear that. And he didn't _need_ to hear that. His heart skipped a stupid beat at Kindaichi's words, making Kunimi fumble for his own syllables. "You…" He pouted. "I only said I wasn't worried about you _right after_ you told me I didn't _have_ to worry about you. You can't have it both ways, Kindaichi. Do you want me to worry or not?" He stopped himself before adding, "Do you want me to reciprocate your feelings or not?" Because saying that would only lead to an even bigger misunderstanding.

Kindaichi shuffled his feet and hunched his shoulders. "Can I ask you one thing, Kunimi?"

Oh, hell. Kunimi nodded, but his heart dropped into his stomach. Hopefully Kindaichi wouldn't ask him anything he wasn't ready to talk about.

"Do you hate the way things are between us? And I don't mean now, with this fight. I mean in general, how things have been in recent years. Should I change the way I treat you?"

Kunimi's pout softened. "I thought you wanted to ask me _one_ thing."

"Oh. Right, right…" Kindaichi smacked his own forehead. "Then—the second question. Should I change the way I treat you?"

The shorter boy thought of a few dozen things all at once, but he felt prepared to answer this one question truthfully. "You could try telling me 'no' every once in a while."

Kindaichi looked at him curiously. "What do you mean?"

Kunimi huffed. "You said it yourself—you do and say a lot for me, but you do all of it so _easily_. You're such a Yes Man…sometimes I don't feel you do anything for me for any other reason than that you feel obligated to do it." The hand that gripped the straps of his school bag squeezed the straps tighter, while he clenched his other fist at his side and dropped his eyes to the ground. "If you tell me 'no' occasionally, then I'd know that you're actually giving me some serious thought. That you—as you say—truly care for me."

With his eyes to the ground, Kunimi missed the regrettable expression on Kindaichi's face. But Kindaichi didn't make his friend meet his eyes. "But…I don't think I could ever say 'no' to you," he finally said. He chuckled nervously. "You're just… I've always wanted to spoil you, so you're the one person I could never deny anything."

"But you should."

"What? Why? Isn't it nice to be spoiled?"

Kunimi gritted his teeth. "I don't _want_ to be spoiled, or worried about, or taken care of by you. I just—"

"Just what?"

" _I just want you to care about me because you love me_!" Kunimi barked. He'd whipped his head up as he'd said it and now his gaze was frozen in place, meeting Kindaichi's equally stunned one.

"…what?" Kindaichi whispered. Judging by his face, he was one second away from hyperventilating.

Kunimi ignored the rising heat crawling up his neck and filling his cheeks. " _I meant—I think_ I'm _in love with_ you!" He pulled a face, hating how horribly wrong this had gone. "Not…not the other way around…"

"…oh. Oh, right. …yeah." Kindaichi straightened up, all proper posture all of a sudden, but neither of them moved.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kunimi spotted an old woman in a kerchief walking her dog and noted that she had stopped to watch them. He shot her a dirty look, but she watched them openly until her dog tugged her along. Gods, this had gone so horribly, horribly wrong. Kunimi looked back at Kindaichi, hoping they could continue this conversation, preferably at either of their homes.

But Kindaichi chickened out. "I've gotta get home," he babbled, and he brushed past Kunimi with a quick wave before breaking into a sprint down the street.

Kunimi stood there for a few moments longer, scuffing his shoes against the pavement. Then he, too, went on his way home, all the while wishing that Kindaichi had chosen someone else to coddle. Someone kinder, someone attractive, someone without all of Kunimi's personality flaws…someone who simply. Wasn't. Kunimi.

* * *

"Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no…," Kindaichi muttered into his hands. He'd just gotten home and dashed up to his room before he could even tell his mother "hello." Now he stood in his room with his door at his back for support, because he was fairly certain that his legs had turned to jelly and couldn't keep him upright all on their own.

The walk home with Kunimi kept replaying in his head. _"I just want you to care about me because you love me!"_ was on repeat, like a scratched CD that could play only the first ten seconds of its first track. Kunimi had said he wasn't a mind reader, but that line had given Kindaichi quite the fright—

—because he'd already begun to wonder if he loved Kunimi like that.

But then…but _then_ …! The icing on the cake? Kunimi taking that back and hissing that he thought _he_ was in love with _Kindaichi_?!

Kindaichi slid against the door and squatted there with his elbows on his knees, still hiding his face in his hands, still trying to catch his breath—not from his run, but from Kunimi's declarations. Kindaichi had thought he'd had a hard enough time earlier this evening when they were changing in the clubroom, because he'd found it difficult to look anywhere but at his friend (it was his stupid fantasies' fault!). But those nervous feelings were now trumped by the mix of emotions Kindaichi currently felt after everything Kunimi had just said. Why? How? How had this happened? It would've been fine if they could've just gone back to the way things had been. …frankly, it would've been a bit better if Kindaichi had come up with a better response than to lie and say he needed to be home.

Oh. Oh, no. _Oh, no_.

He'd done it again, he realized. They'd had a second argument, and Kindaichi had run away _again_. He hadn't meant to, but now he wondered if this was becoming a trend with him. He couldn't have helped it, though. Too much of Kunimi at once just overwhelmed him and Kindaichi just—

—he was so scared…of his desire to spoil Kunimi, to make things anything _but_ the way they had been between them, to _monopolize_ him…that Kindaichi just backed away.

He wanted to monopolize Kunimi and be monopolized by him. That was the plain and simple of it.

(And now he empathized with Hinata and promised that he would try not to borrow Kageyama from him too often.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, yes. Stupid boys saying stupid things at the stupid wrong times. XD I'd planned on Kunimi being the first one to say it 'cuz the kid just gets so bloody pent up sometimes, but Kindaichi…oh, you pure, pure child. The only question is: What now? And, while indigo la End's "Sayonara Bell" is the overall theme song of this fic, this chapter goes great with the song "全然気にしてないから僕のことは気にしないで" by ORESAMA (the title loosely translates to "You don't worry about me because you don't care at all;" gods, I love this song so much).
> 
> As always, thanks for reading, and please review!
> 
> -mew! :')


	6. Kindaichi and Kunimi's Impasse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Haikyuu! characters belong to Furudate Haruichi-sensei, not to me. For the day 6 prompts "firsts" and "moving on." D: Read, review, and enjoy! *Done for kinkuniweek on tumblr.*

Classes, lunch, practice, going home—they were quiet affairs over the next several days, because Kindaichi and Kunimi had relapsed into their relative silence. Kindaichi tried a few times to talk to Kunimi like usual, but Kunimi shook his head every time. He wasn't ready to mend things wholly just yet.

Instead, he did his best to convey to Kindaichi that they needed to pretend that the other evening had never happened. It wasn't Kunimi's first choice—no, he'd rather nap against Kindaichi like usual during practice and then invite Kindaichi over and see what the other boy's mouth tasted like (…just to start; after several more nights spent inhaling Kindaichi's scent, Kunimi had concluded that he irrevocably wanted his friend, so he now embraced the formerly alien desires and dreams because, _fuck_ , he _liked_ the emotional and physical rushes he experienced when he thought of Kindaichi in such a capacity)—but for now Kunimi supposed it was the only route for them to take, to revert to their initial factory settings.

The seniors definitely took notice of Kunimi's forced cold shoulder, but Yahaba seemed to have given up trying to fix them, and Kyoutani often looked between them during practice with a shrug, as if he was surprised things had developed this way but thinking to let well enough alone. Only Watari still tried to help them smooth things over.

"We're practicing synchronized attacks today," their vice-captain informed them one afternoon.

Kunimi and Kindaichi executed them just fine from opposite ends of the same side of the net.

"Ah…well, we were thinking of doing pipes today…," Watari tried on another day.

Kindaichi's slight height advantage in front provided the perfect mask for Kunimi's strong spikes from the back.

"It's n-never too early…to start studying for…first-semester midterms…," their poor senpai suggested another time.

Kindaichi went to Yahaba and Watari for help. Kunimi, on the other hand, was the infuriatingly naturally smart type and never needed to study. That actually suited his laziness just fine.

A minuscule part of Kunimi appreciated Watari's efforts, but Kunimi knew it would take time for him and Kindaichi to be friends again. They had to grow comfortable around each other once more before that could happen.

…those thoughts came and went often as a week passed, and Kunimi grew uneasy towards the idea. It hadn't occurred to him that their fight and their feelings would meld into a roadblock for their friendship, yet that clearly was what had happened. Back when they'd first met in fifth grade during lunch—a meeting forced upon them through shared friends—Kunimi had spoken very little to Kindaichi, and Kindaichi had been this quiet, nervous version of himself which now had returned. It wasn't until eating lunch together _with_ their friends became eating lunch together _without_ their friends that Kindaichi had tested the waters and asked about Kunimi's interests. It turned out that they didn't share many interests, and volleyball caught their mutual attention later that year, but Kindaichi was nothing if not earnest in trying to establish a relationship with Kunimi, and Kindaichi had always viewed learning Kunimi well as one of the rewards of their friendship.

As for Kunimi, his initial impression of Kindaichi was that of a stray puppy that had spotted him on his way home and tried following him all the way back to his house. But…while Kunimi wasn't an animal-lover, even he couldn't ignore Kindaichi, who'd always worn his pure heart on his sleeve. And, though Kunimi had had friends, he'd never decided to let one get as close to him as Kindaichi had. He supposed that was Kindaichi's effect on him, and, truthfully, he'd never minded that. Kunimi tried imagining any of their seniors (current and graduate) in Kindaichi's role in the same scenario, but he vetoed their efforts every time. He simply didn't _want_ to get close to any of them in the same way.

He wanted only to get close…no, _closer_ to Kindaichi. But he was damned if he did, and damned if he didn't.

* * *

Kindaichi observed that he was no good at fighting with Kunimi. Fighting, to him, meant outbursts and harsh words and maybe even a couple of swings, but always, _always_ fights were supposed to end with apologies. An apology could be a begrudgingly-said "sorry," a quick glare followed by a smile, or an invitation to go somewhere and eat or to do something fun. Kindaichi had spent years watching Oikawa and Iwaizumi as his chief example of how two people should fight (and make up), but he'd seen it during his time practicing with Karasuno, too.

Kageyama and Hinata fought all the time, but a quick toss from Kageyama almost always smoothed things over with the redhead. Sometimes Tsukishima's impatience came across wrong to Yamaguchi, but Kindaichi had seen the blond shoot his best friend an annoyed look before smirking (and, frankly, Kindaichi had been around them enough to begin to think that Tsukishima could only smirk, not smile). Nishinoya every once in a while lost his temper at Kondo, even, because it was becoming clear that Kondo was as good a libero as him, if not better, but Nishinoya apologized every time and taught the first year one of his whacky moves on top of that.

Kindaichi had noticed that Yahaba and Kyoutani were better at fighting than he was, as well. After the loss to Karasuno last fall, they'd posed a united front against the crows and Yahaba had used that as the platform for his captaincy. "Defeat Karasuno" was their motivation, and Kyoutani came to practice regularly, providing Yahaba with plenty of opportunities to butt heads with him. While neither of them had yet mastered the art of saying "sorry" to the other, Yahaba was known to stop yelling abruptly midsentence and exhale before getting back to practice. If Kyoutani was the one to end things, he often chose to grit his teeth and give Yahaba a little nod, and then Seijou would be on their merry way. But honestly, everyone managed better than Kindaichi did.

He mused that he had an excuse: None of them had anyone like Kunimi so permanently affixed in their lives. Of course, Kindaichi knew where this line of thinking had taken him before, and he didn't really want to think again about comparing him and Kunimi to Oikawa and his ex-girlfriends, least of all when Kindaichi had admitted to himself that he _wanted_ Kunimi to stay in his life in likely more than a platonic manner.

But, as midterms drew closer and they showed no signs of repairing their friendship, Kindaichi had a new line of thought: Would it be so bad to pose an ultimatum? As in, a real relationship or no relationship at all? Granted, no relationship at all would make playing on the same volleyball team extremely awkward, but…a clean break was the best kind, wasn't it? Kindaichi was sure he'd heard that somewhere before…

Oh, right. Fifth grade. It had been right after they'd decided to join their neighborhood children's volleyball club together. One of the other boys, bigger than the two of them combined at the time, had been a nasty brat with strong spikes that put the current, almost-seventeen-year-old Kindaichi in mind of Japan's top spikers, and that kid had spiked his strongest ball to Kindaichi, who'd blocked it, yes, but Kindaichi had broken his left radius in the process. The pain hadn't registered with Kindaichi immediately and nothing had broken the skin, but he recalled the rush to the emergency room right after, with the coach driving him there and the doctors prepping him for the x-ray and looking at his x-rays with his parents. It hadn't been a totally clean break, but close enough, so the doctor who set his arm and put the cast on told Kindaichi and his parents not to worry. "A clean break is the best kind because it poses the least amount of trouble," the doctor had said with a warm smile, and then he'd asked Kindaichi if he'd like a colored wrapping for over the cast, which Kindaichi then had declined.

Thinking back on it now, another part of that memory stuck out to Kindaichi. He remembered going to school the next day and having his classmates and friends swarm him to see his cast, and one of the girls (…what was her name? He couldn't remember…must not have been important enough to him) had pulled out her pencil case and revealed a stash of permanent markers. She'd suggested they decorate his cast for him and everyone had liked the idea—until Kunimi wordlessly plucked the black marker from her case and written "KUNIMI" in large, long, thick, wraparound Roman alphabet letters on the cast. He only told Kindaichi later on that his dad had taught him how to spell their surname in English just for fun, but "KUNIMI" took up most of the space on the cast, and any remaining empty spaces Kunimi filled with his surname written in perfect, compact kanji.

No wonder Kindaichi couldn't recall the names of any of his other grade school friends. Kunimi had claimed him as his own then, and Kindaichi just hadn't realized until now that he'd been perfectly happy with only Kunimi in his life.

Kindaichi was lying down on his bed Sunday night thinking of this with a smile on his face when his phone buzzed. He turned and leaned over the edge, reaching inside his duffle on the floor for the device. He had a message from Kageyama:

_-Hey! Are you banned from practicing with us!_

The middle blocker rolled his eyes. For crying out loud… Kageyama really needed to learn to use punctuation other than an exclamation point. Kindaichi replied after giving it a moment's thought:

_-No. I'll come play again after midterms._

A minute and then another passed. Kindaichi wondered if Kageyama had decided that was that, but then Kindaichi had one more message from him:

_-MIDTERMS!_

He was pretty certain that exclamation was more of a question and, when Kageyama didn't message him anymore that night, Kindaichi suspected his answer had been a reminder to Kageyama to worry about his academics for once. Kageyama might no longer be a king, but he was still an idiot. Again, Kindaichi felt for Hinata…then again, Hinata wasn't the brightest bulb in the box, either, so he and Kageyama made for a perfect pair.

Kindaichi went to put his phone away and take out his notebooks, but he hesitated. Exiting out of his chat with Kageyama, he looked at his list of contacts, scrolling down just a tad and selecting one. The avatar of the _Akira_ movie poster hung in the top left corner of the screen, with Kunimi's name typed out lazily (not Kindaichi's own doing) in hiragana below. He smiled again, though his chest ached now as he finally chose a course of action.

Who knew if it was the right course of action? Kindaichi sure as hell didn't. More importantly…

Could he and Kunimi ever make for a perfect pair?

"Guess we'll find out," he mumbled to himself, putting his phone away and thinking about tomorrow….

* * *

Kindaichi fidgeted, shuffling his feet as he waited outside the front gate to Kunimi's house the next morning. He kept checking his watch. 6:31:35. 6:31:47. 6:32:03. Kunimi would be out shortly.

He'd managed to put his worries aside last night and cram in some final reviewing for his tests today, but he'd had trouble sleeping as soon as he'd turned the lights off for the night. He'd tried countless times to posit what he might say to Kunimi in the morning, but nothing had seemed right. He'd been fumbling for the right words since getting up forty-five minutes ago and had been scrambling for the right words _still_ on the walk over. Now he paced back and forth in front of the Kunimi family nameplate, debating the pros and cons of running away for a third time.

The direction of this morning was determined for him, however, when the front door latched and he heard a "…good morning?" behind him. Kunimi poked his head above the gate as he pushed it open and gave Kindaichi a doubtful look, as if he knew Kindaichi might run away again.

Kindaichi turned around fully and locked eyes with Kunimi, but he couldn't hold his gaze for long—he was already anxious enough as it was. "U-uh, um, g-gooding morn!" Oh, hell. Forget being called "Onion Head" or "Radish Head"—he felt positively beet red now.

Yet Kunimi's shoulders shook with a cough that, in actuality, was the precursor to his laugh. He tried to hide it behind his hand, but he grinned. "Ah, yes. 'Gooding morn' to you, too, Kindaichi." He pulled the gate closed behind him and walked towards him, and Kindaichi fell into step with him.

"This is not how I'd hoped to start this morning…," the taller boy remarked.

Kunimi shrugged, but he seemed relieved; the stiffness that had clung to him since his confession almost two weeks ago wasn't there this morning. "What _were_ you hoping for?"

Kindaichi pursed his lips, wishing the bus stop was more than a five-minute walk from Kunimi's house. He severely needed more than five minutes. "Well…the chance to talk."

Kunimi looked up at him. "About anything but _that_ " was in his dark brown eyes, but he didn't appear irritated at the possibility that Kindaichi might just bring up the taboo subject.

Kindaichi offered up an apologetic smile ahead of time, and then he cleared his throat. "Do you…do you remember what I asked you a while ago?"

The spiker found a large pebble on the street and started kicking it ahead of them a little bit at a time. "Which part?" he queried reluctantly.

"If you hate the way things are between us."

"Ah." Kunimi stuffed his hands in his pockets. "That." Kunimi ran a hand through his hair, a motion Kindaichi swore he wouldn't let distract him. "But you changed your mind that time and asked me something else."

"No, I know…" Kindaichi gnawed on his lower lip. "But now I think my original question is the important one."

"And now you want me to answer it?"

Kindaichi shook his head. "No. I wanted to answer it myself, if you'll hear me out."

Kunimi kicked the pebble a sixth time before slowing to a halt. He turned to Kindaichi skeptically. "You're going to answer your own question?"

"Mm-hmm."

The shorter boy sighed quietly. "Then go for it."

Ignoring the pounding in his chest, Kindaichi pushed forward. "I—I hate it." There. He'd said it. There was no taking it back now.

Kunimi raised one curious eyebrow. "…all right, then. On to school."

"Ah, no, please wait," Kindaichi requested, gingerly touching Kunimi's arm so that the other teen wouldn't resume walking. "I wasn't done."

"Kindaichi…," Kunimi warned. "Saying you hate how things are between us and elaborating on that can only get worse from here. Are we—" He caught himself, but Kindaichi could read in his expression that Kunimi was done hiding his feelings about this. "Damn it. Look, are we even friends anymore? Tell me now, because of I'm sick of this waffling—" He stopped again when his voice hitched on his last word.

Kindaichi frowned. "I…can't be friends with you anymore. I don't _want_ to be."

If only Kunimi would give him a moment to explain before looking as though the world were ending…!

"I just mean—" The older boy hurried through his next words, gesticulating all the while. "I just mean that you were right the first time! I—I think I _am_ …in love with you," he mumbled. He cleared his throat again. "So I don't want to be friends with you. I'm selfish, greedy even, I now know. I've spoiled you for so long because I've always viewed you as mine and I—I just want that to be the case, for real." Kindaichi took a couple of calming breaths. "So…we date or we're just teammates. I'm too greedy for anything in-between."

An early morning breeze blew between them while Kunimi stared, wide-eyed (for him), at Kindaichi. Then he narrowed his eyes at the other boy until he was glaring at him. "You mean all of that?"

"Huh? Y-yes," Kindaichi stuttered.

"Every single bit?"

"Yes."

"Every last word."

"Yes!"

Kunimi's frown wavered. "Even if I'm…some pervert who wants to be more than just yours, who wants to do things with you that only people who date do?"

Though Kunimi's frankness made him blush, he nodded. He wouldn't have said any of this if he hadn't meant it, and not if he hadn't enjoyed the dreams he'd been having about his friend. (Though he was smart enough to note that he'd probably never mention the idea of Kunimi in a skirt to Kunimi himself. Or, at least, he'd save those thoughts for much further down the line.)

Kunimi nodded, as well, mostly to himself. "So you're in love with me, I'm in love with you, and it's boyfriends or a clean slate?"

Now Kindaichi's confidence shook. In the time since the confession, was it possible Kunimi's feelings had changed? That couldn't be, right? He'd just said, _again_ , that he was in love with Kindaichi… "That's the summary," Kindaichi confirmed.

The shorter boy exhaled and looked up at his friend, his usual smugness back in full force. "Then kiss me."

Kindaichi blinked. And then he laughed. "No," he said, holding his sides and resuming their walk. They had to hurry now, or else they'd miss the bus.

Kunimi trotted beside him, pouting and bright pink in the face. "What do you mean, 'no'?!"

Finally, things felt right between them again. No—they were even better. "You were the one who told me to tell you 'no' occasionally."

" _Are you fucking kidding me_?!" Kunimi hissed. He smacked Kindaichi in the arm, but he let his fingers linger on the other boy's jacket sleeve, curling into the fabric and not letting go. "…can't believe you…"

"What was that?"

They made it to the stop barely thirty seconds before the bus arrived. They boarded, and Kunimi followed him to two seats in the back right corner. Kindaichi took the window seat, and Kunimi huffed but leaned against Kindaichi's shoulder anyway. "Can't believe you have the balls to say 'no' at a time like this," Kunimi groused.

But Kindaichi just laughed again. "You know, Kunimi…"

"What?" He scrunched his nose up at him.

Still, Kindaichi sighed happily, because everything had gone right… _better_ than right. "There _will_ be times that I won't say 'no.'"

Kunimi pursed his lips, but eventually his face morphed with a tiny, triumphant, satiated smile. If he'd been a cat, Kindaichi surmised Kunimi would be purring by now. "I know," he acknowledged slowly, and he tugged Kindaichi's hand up onto the taller boy's thigh so he could hold it and stroke the back with his fingers.

"Kunimi…"

"Hmm?"

" _That's_ not my hand."

Kunimi impishly stuck his tongue out while Kindaichi interlaced their fingers to keep Kunimi's wandering hand out of trouble. "Oh, fuck you. You told me 'no' at the worst of times, so I wanted to be 'more than friendly' at the worst of times."

Kindaichi sighed again, but he did so with a laugh. He knew he was a selfish person, but Kunimi…Kunimi could give him a run for his money. And he was all right with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHH, FINALLY. CLOSURE. ISH. Btw, the "gooding morn" thing was a typo on my part that turned into a happy accident when I laughed at myself and thought Kunimi ought to laugh at Kindaichi there, so yeah. But GOSH. THEY'RE SO CUTE. And I love Kunimi being a perv. ;P And KINDAICHI. TELLING HIS BABE "NO." OMG. At the start of this fic, I was wondering how to reconcile the idea of Kindaichi coddling Kunimi with them falling in love, and I'm happy with the end result, because it's actually not that unhealthy a dependency, since it's interdependency. I think that, in certain cases (such as with Kinkuni), this interdependency that's also monopolizing your loved one can work, if both parties are privy to the idea. That's also why it's understandable that Kindaichi said "lovers or teammates—choose;" once they learned of their feelings, there deffo was not going to be any third option for them to choose. So yeah. Cuties. B3
> 
> Thanks for reading, and please review! It's how I know you've enjoyed the story! :') But this is not the end—the next and last chapter is an epilogue of sorts, so please stay tuned for that!
> 
> -mew! :}


	7. When Kageyama Is the Smart One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Haikyuu! characters belong to Furudate Haruichi-sensei, not to me. For the day 7 free prompt. :3c Read, review, and enjoy! *Done for kinkuniweek on tumblr.*

"Ah, Kindaichi-kun!" Takeda-sensei chirped when he spied the middle blocker entering Karasuno's gym. "So good to see you! Kageyama-kun mentioned your midterms were last week, same as ours." He beamed. "How did they go?"

Kindaichi chuckled. Kinoshita and Narita caught his eye and waved, and he waved back as he placed his things right inside the door like normal. "They were okay. I'm just an average student, but I rarely have to worry about retakes, so I'm fine. We'll be getting most of our grades over the next few days."

"I see, I see…" Takeda-sensei stared at him over the tops of his lenses and tried peeking around him.

And Kindaichi had been expecting that, because he distinctly remembered what the teacher had said the last time they spoke. So he stepped aside and presented the tagalong. "Sensei, Kunimi."

Kunimi respectfully bowed his head and Takeda-sensei bowed back, but Kunimi said nothing. Rather, he gave Kindaichi that impression for a brief second. Then Kunimi mumbled, "…thank you for having me."

Takeda-sensei merely continued to beam, but he seemed impossibly happier to see Kindaichi and Kunimi looking chummy. "It's no problem at all. We've grown fond of Kindaichi-kun here, and I'm certain we'd love to get the same chance with you, Kunimi-kun."

Kunimi's face was unreadable, but Kindaichi had to stifle a laugh when the bits of the spiker's ears that weren't hidden by his hair turned rosy pink. Kunimi tried to fumble another "thank you," but he gave up and nodded instead.

The teacher left them alone then, and Kunimi passed Kindaichi his bag to set down, too. "I'm glad you came with me," the taller boy commented.

"Did I have much of a choice?" Kunimi unzipped his jacket but didn't remove it as he stretched his arms. "You told me that Takeda essentially told you only to come once you and I had made up, and…much as I hate to admit it, you're pretty happy coming here. I didn't want to be responsible for you sulking if you couldn't come." His eyes scanned the faces of Karasuno's members. They narrowed when they landed on Kageyama. "…and you shouldn't get _too_ close to Kageyama…"

Kindaichi again had to do his best not to laugh. So Kunimi _had_ been a bit jealous of them hitting it off. "You've got nothing to worry about, Kunimi," he told the spiker as he knelt and stuffed his jacket and sweatpants in his bag.

Kunimi pouted.

"No, really. Take another look." Kindaichi pointed subtly to where Kageyama and Hinata were talking to the first years. As soon as Kageyama dismissed them, Hinata stopped tugging on the setter's shirtsleeve and Kageyama patted him gently on the head twice, and then they began practicing before everyone else had even arrived.

Kunimi scoffed at the sight as Kindaichi stood up and joined him in stretching. "Goddamn. So everything's Kageyama's fault to begin with."

"What? Kunimi…"

"His gay must've rubbed off on you, and then it rubbed off on me." He paused, and the ends of his lips curved up ever so slightly. "Ha. Kindaichi. It _rubbed off_ on us."

Kindaichi rolled his eyes as his face grew hot. "Kunimi…please don't become the next Hanamaki-san or Matsukawa-san…"

Kunimi leaned against Kindaichi's arm then and began playing with the older boy's fingers. "No promises~"

Kindaichi sighed, wishing he didn't have to pull free of Kunimi. But he knew they couldn't participate if Kunimi had him tied to the sidelines in his possessive iron grip. "What about other promises?" he suggested, reluctantly tugging his fingers free.

The spiker frowned at the lack of contact, but he closed his eyes and shrugged. "I don't think I can trust your promises after that crap you pulled last week."

"Oh, come on…! It was just that first time…!" Kindaichi whined. He chuckled nervously when Ennoshita and Nishinoya arrived and threw him some curious looks, so he pulled Kunimi closer to their bags and away from prying ears. "Part of that was me really trying to say 'no' to you for once. Part of it…" Kindaichi needed his water bottle, for it felt extremely warm in the gym to him. "Part of it was the timing. Right before exams? I…I wasn't sure what would happen if I'd kissed you…"

Though Kunimi's mouth appeared to be a straight line, Kindaichi knew he caught that quiver that meant Kunimi was about to snicker. "You weren't sure you could hold back?" the shorter boy teased. He smirked for real, mirth dancing in his dark eyes…along with, likely, some ideas of getting Kindaichi to do away with his self-control.

"It's time for practice," Kindaichi announced then, stopping his friend before Kunimi could say anything. Really, the taller boy was relieved that the crows had gathered around…that he was in this setting with characters who could act as buffers.

But they didn't really _need_ to be buffers between him and Kunimi. After stretching and doing some warm-ups, the athletes practiced serving, receives, and two rounds of flying falls before teams were organized. Though Kageyama was the only actual setter Karasuno currently had, the first year, Akimoto, had some experience as a setter as well as a wing spiker. Kindaichi joined Akimoto's team along with Nishinoya, Tsukishima, Ennoshita, and Kinoshita, with Narita as a reserve. That meant Kageyama had Kondo, Hinata, Ozaki, Tanaka, and Kunimi, with Yamaguchi as a reserve. Kunimi wasn't thrilled to be playing on the same team as Kageyama so soon—he openly made sickened faces at the setter, which earned him points with Tsukishima, Kindaichi realized, as the blond middle blocker smirked appreciatively whenever Kunimi riled Kageyama up—but he was even less thrilled to be facing off against Kindaichi. Before the game started, Kindaichi saw Kunimi's annoyed little pout, like "We just made up and they _really_ want us apart already?" So Kindaichi offered him a sympathetic smile.

It had been a long while since Kindaichi had played against Kunimi. A part of him had wondered if this would go well, though, with Kunimi on the same side as Kageyama and Hinata. But in reality he had little to worry about. Though Akimoto's setting skills were surprising, Kageyama's talent was as evident as ever, and he found a decent rhythm with Kunimi early on in the first set. Kageyama's best match-up would no doubt always be his quicks done with Hinata, but his team-up with Kunimi turned out to be a force to be reckoned with.

Not to be outdone, Kindaichi and Tsukishima made for a decent wall. Tsukishima still didn't like the Seijou player off the court, but on? Kindaichi felt there was finally a shred of respect for him from the bespectacled guy. They could rarely shut Hinata's spikes out, but they often dampened their velocity, and Kunimi and Tanaka were stopped about half the time. On their own team, Ennoshita and Kinoshita had better luck faring against Hinata and Ozaki's blocks. Nevertheless, at the end of the first set, Kageyama's team finished ahead of Akimoto's by three points.

After that, they rotated teams by parts, moving setters and spikers and later moving blockers and liberoes around, so Kindaichi got the chance to play with Kageyama again a few times, and he even played alongside Kunimi at one point. That set, Kindaichi decided, had been one of his best. He mused on his previous thoughts that, because of their respective positions, there wasn't exactly a way for him and Kunimi to be partners, at least in the same way in which Kageyama and Hinata worked or Ennoshita or Tanaka worked with Nishinoya, but that wasn't all that important. The sense of familiarity, knowing how Kunimi moved, knowing Kunimi's pacing and breathing—it all came down to knowing how his teammate played and to knowing how to match his everything to him.

Ah. "To match his everything to him"—somehow, Kindaichi knew that was a universal truth, not just one meant for the volleyball court.

* * *

"Practice with these dumb birds is…" Kunimi couldn't even get his last word out as he dropped to his butt on the floor by his and Kindaichi's belongings. They were taking a break so Karasuno could save part of their practice for themselves, but Kunimi wasn't complaining. They could practice for the rest of the night and leave him and Kindaichi by the door, for all he cared.

"Their stamina's something else," Kindaichi agreed, stopping in front of his friend and bending over to lean with his hands on his knees.

Kunimi peered up at Kindaichi, appreciating the view despite the smell of sweat. How he could have thought tall and slim wasn't attractive, he didn't know. On him, he still disliked it. But on Kindaichi? Kindaichi was rather sinewy in a lanky kind of way, and Kunimi liked that quite a bit. He licked his lips and reached for his water bottle when Kindaichi stared at him curiously. "We've got half an hour before things wind down here. Want to head home soon?"

Kindaichi sighed, but it was a playful albeit slightly exasperated motion. He joined Kunimi on the floor, sitting with his legs stretched out in front of him to Kunimi's left. "No," he scolded him. "Just because we have Yahaba-san's permission to come here so long as Karasuno allows us doesn't mean that I don't want to get a full practice in."

Kunimi frowned and pulled his knees up to his chest. He leaned against Kindaichi's shoulder. "Goody two-shoes…"

"Don't be that way. Think of it as us getting a preview of what they're like this year. We'll defeat them at the Interhigh prelims again," he added with a grin.

The spiker's heart squeezed a bit…damn Kindaichi and his sweet smile. Kunimi shot him a little glare. "Of course we're going to defeat them," he grumbled.

Kindaichi laughed.

They sat there for a while, catching their breaths and slowing their pulses as Karasuno kept up the feverish pace. Though Kunimi had been surprised by how well he and Kageyama had worked together today—who the hell knew the King of the Court had changed so much?—he remained reluctant to admit that Kageyama had mellowed. In addition, watching how Tsukishima made fun of Kageyama as if they were grade-schoolers made Kunimi feel as though he'd found a kindred spirit. Yes. He wouldn't mind coming back to make fun of Kageyama…er, practice with Karasuno again.

Though they silently watched the other team play, after ten minutes Kunimi became aware of Kindaichi linking their fingers. "I thought we were being discrete," he chided halfheartedly without looking Kindaichi's way. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kindaichi shrug.

"It's discrete if no one's looking this way."

Kunimi glanced at him with raised eyebrows. "Color me impressed."

Kindaichi smiled a little, but he drew his fingers lazily along the other boy's arm. Then he stopped. "Oh. Right."

Annoyed at Kindaichi's need for intimacy behaving far too much like a freaking light switch, Kunimi growled at him, "What 'right'? Kindaichi…"

The reprimand was lost on the taller boy as he turned to his duffle bag and rifled through it. In the end, he pulled out a dark green gel pen and uncapped it. Then he turned Kunimi's arm over to expose the white of the other boy's forearm and began writing.

Kunimi grimaced until the shaky shapes took form, and then a memory of a fifth-grade Kindaichi wearing a cast on his arm—a cast covered in "KUNIMI"—surfaced in his mind's eye. So he snickered. "Oh, my god… I'd forgotten about that."

Kindaichi beamed triumphantly as he continued his handiwork. "It's six years overdue, but have my revenge, Kunimi." He finished and let Kunimi eye his writing.

"You do realize that you misspelled your own name."

"What?!"

"In English, there's an extra 'i' right here," Kunimi said, pointing to the spot. His arm read "KINDACHI," and the "n" was backwards. It was all the same to him, though, and his sides hurt so much trying not to laugh out loud. He really wanted to kiss the fluster off Kindaichi's face, too. Instead, he chuckled quietly and rested his head half on Kindaichi's chest, near the other boy's shoulder. "And it's not revenge, idiot. You're just labelling what's yours, as I did a long time ago."

Poor Kindaichi turned a darker reddish pink than Hanamaki's hair.

Kunimi inhaled and exhaled calmly, content. Of course, that meant the moment was going to be short-lived, since Ukai motioned for one last change and waved Kindaichi on over. The difference? This time Kindaichi wasn't as obedient, because he was kind of rooted to the spot and therefore useless to Karasuno. Kunimi snickered.

Ukai sighed and shook his head at them, trying not to stare at Kunimi curled around Kindaichi's arm. "Look, you two…if you're not going to play, then just go home!" But that was all he scolded them for.

Kunimi smirked, and then he felt Kageyama's eyes on him. He locked eyes with the setter, giving him his best "What do you want?" look, to which Kageyama shook his head. Kunimi sneered at him, and yet somehow Kageyama arrived at the idea that that was a signal to approach them.

"It's best not to get on Ukai-san's bad side," Kageyama informed him.

Kunimi rolled his eyes and nudged Kindaichi to pass him his bag. "Wasn't looking to do so," Kunimi quipped as he packed up, motioning to Kindaichi to do the same.

"I didn't think so. From what I've heard from Ennoshita-san and the others, he's still not as bad as Ukai-sensei, his grandfather, but he'll still make us do a hundred receives if he's really pissed."

"Thanks for the head's up."

Kageyama shuffled his feet, and he glanced over his shoulder. His other teammates had arranged themselves already and were stretching a bit more before this final set, except for Hinata. Hinata had pulled away from the others and walked over to them, still a way's away but close enough that he could eavesdrop if he strained his ears. The redhead was bouncing on his heels as calmly and patiently as he could, which wasn't saying much. So Kageyama turned back to the Seijou duo. "There's also a rule at practice…"

Kunimi and Kindaichi both looked at him. A rule? What rule? They hadn't heard this before.

"No PDA at practice."

Kunimi got a thousand chills that crawled up his spine at the term "PDA" coming out of Kageyama's mouth. But whereas he turned green, Kindaichi turned bright red. "That's not—we're not—you—" Kindaichi choked on his words.

Kunimi shouldered his bag and heaved Kindaichi's onto the taller boy's shoulder before ushering Kindaichi out the door. To think they'd been so obvious that _Kageyama_ had understood the situation…! Kunimi didn't comment, but he sneered at Kageyama again as they headed out.

Kageyama cocked his head to one side, no doubt wondering what he'd said or done wrong. But he didn't doubt it for long, because Hinata went and tugged on his sleeve, looking anxious until Kageyama gave in, brushed the redhead's fluffy fringe back, and pecked his forehead.

"OI! NO PDA AT PRACTICE!" Ennoshita yelled, and Kunimi and Kindaichi could hear him well outside the gym.

* * *

After a quiet ride on the bus, Kunimi and Kindaichi enjoyed a quiet walk home, as well. They were one street over from Kunimi's road when Kunimi slowed down and pinched Kindaichi's sleeve. Kindaichi stopped and turned to him. "Kunimi?"

The spiker sighed. "…they…probably have a point, don't they?"

Kindaichi shook his head, not knowing the topic.

"About being anything other than sportsmanlike at practice." He frowned.

"Probably," Kindaichi agreed, sounding as disappointed as Kunimi felt. He removed Kunimi's grip on his sleeve, though, and pushed the cuff up, exposing his hand so he could hold Kunimi's hand, and he pulled Kunimi gently closer. His smile was small, cautious, and seeking permission.

When Kunimi realized what Kindaichi meant to do, his first impulse was to avert his eyes. But Kindaichi brushed Kunimi's hair out of his face and turned his head back to face him. For a panicky second, Kunimi stared into Kindaichi's eyes, and he saw all his own usual bravado as actual confidence on Kindaichi's part. So he closed his eyes and hoped his nerves would stop being so jittery.

Their first kiss was light and sweet and very Kindaichi, and Kunimi suddenly lacked his characteristic laziness. He got goosebumps— _actual goosebumps_ —from kissing Kindaichi, and the energy that made his blood zip through his veins revved up. He felt the way Watari and Hinata acted as they bounded all over the court. When Kindaichi pulled away, the look on his face was obvious: He'd felt it, too.

So Kunimi did the Kunimi thing and pulled a face. " _Ugh_. Try again."

Kindaichi sighed. "Try again…? Kunimi…" Then it hit him. "Oh." He chuckled at himself. "Right. _Try again_." So he kissed Kunimi again, and the other boy tilted his head up and pulled on Kindaichi's arms.

This time when they broke apart, Kunimi tried once more to be coy, but he failed miserably at it. "We'll need to get lots of practice in," he informed Kindaichi. They started walking again, and Kindaichi didn't let go of his hand.

Kindaichi nodded. "Just not at practice," he confirmed.

"Yep." Kunimi wiggled his fingers between Kindaichi's. "And, Kindaichi…" There was one worry left that weighed him down.

Stunningly, Kindaichi shook his head again, letting Kunimi know he didn't need to worry about a single thing. "I'm sorry, too." He laughed. "Wow. We never actually said 'sorry,' did we?"

Kunimi smiled at Kindaichi laughing at himself, and he hugged Kindaichi's arm to him. "To be honest, I wasn't sure we needed to say it out loud. I thought it was kind of implied…"

"No, no, saying it is a good thing, but I kind of feel the same way…" He trailed off. "Anyway, saying it kind of puts our fight to rest once and for all."

Kunimi shrugged. "I suppose so."

"And," Kindaichi added, turning beet red as they pulled up on Kunimi's house, "I have a feeling there will be things _I'll_ definitely need to apologize for in the future…"

Kunimi eyed him, but he didn't feel any premature irritation for whatever it was at which Kindaichi was hinting. Besides, whatever it was that Kindaichi might do to piss him off in the future (…or…whatever Kunimi might do to wrong Kindaichi in the future…), Kunimi was willing to face it head on and deal with it.

Kindaichi glanced at their linked hands as they dawdled in front of the gate.

Yes. Kunimi was willing to face and deal with whatever was thrown their way because, like this hand, Kunimi was not going to let Kindaichi go. Better yet, he knew Kindaichi felt the same way. So he leaned toward Kindaichi, pressed one more kiss to his cheek, and said, "Goodnight, Kindaichi," knowing that "goodnight" would thankfully, preciously never be so heartbreakingly permanent as "goodbye"—

—and knowing that "goodbye" was not a word that would ever be expressed between them again, verbal or otherwise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. *had to get that out, sry* I JUST. FINALLY. I had a few things to accomplish with this chapter: give the story that "epilogue" vibe, make the Kagehina overt ;P, have Kindaichi fulfill his promise with Takeda, make Kunimi realize the Kageyama actually has matured, and to get the apology out there! I wasn't sure about having their first kiss (or second or third, *lol*) here, but Kindaichi changed my mind while I waffled like Kunimi. XD Also, Tsukki and Kunimi trolling Kageyama… RIP Kageyama, amirite? XD And Ennoshita was the one to scold Kagehina because Daichi taught him how to keep the kouhai in line. ;D Btw, Kindaichi was apologizing ahead of time, frankly, because he hasn't been able to get the image of Kunimi in the Seijou skirt out of his mind, and neither have I, which is why I wrote a Kinkuni smut fic set after this (it's called "Good Luck," if you're looking for it). XD
> 
> Thank you very much for reading, and please leave an unsigned (or signed) review! It's how I know you've enjoyed the story! :') Thanks to everyone who reblogged [this on tumblr](http://le-amewzing.tumblr.com/post/138018278623/goodbye-goodnight-part-17) with wonderful comments in the tags and to those of you who reviewed already—I'm so happy I could bring more Kinkuni into your life! X3 I'm super excited, too, because this fic pushed me over 2 million words written on FFN, as well! :D So check out my other [HQ!] fics if you liked this, too!
> 
> -mew! :}


End file.
